For this relief much thanks: 't is bitter cold,

And I am sick at heart.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616): Hamlet. Act i. Sc. 1.

Pity the sorrows of a poor old man,

Whose trembling limbs have borne him to your door,

Whose days are dwindled to the shortest span;

Oh give relief, and Heaven will bless your store.

Thomas Moss (1740-1808): The Beggar.

So, when a raging fever burns,

We shift from side to side by turns;

And 't is a poor relief we gain

To change the place, but keep the pain.

Isaac Watts (1674-1748): Hymns and Spiritual Songs. Book ii. Hymn 146.